Gretchen Peters (journalist)

Last updated
Gretchen Peters
OccupationJournalist
Consultant
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Education Harvard University (AB)
University of Denver
Notable worksSeeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War
Notable awardsSAJA Journalism Award
Children2
Website
gretchenpeters.org

Gretchen Peters is an American journalist specialized in transnational organized crime and the author of Seeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War. [1] She is the executive director of CINTOC, the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime, an operational think tank set up by Peters herself between 2012 and 2013. CINTOC's work is focused on the intersection between transnational organized crime and national security and the executive director of The Satao Project, a consulting firm that supports governments and industries to counter serious organized crime and corruption, and their convergence with terrorism, violence and social unrest. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Peters has a BA from Harvard University and a Masters in International Relations from the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies. [3] At the Korbel School, she was a 2012 recipient of the Sié Chéou-Kang security and diplomacy fellowship and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers Life's Choices Foundation Scholarship. [4]

Career

Peters began her career as a journalist, working at the newspaper The Cambodia Daily in the early years after its launch. [5] For the following ten years, she covered Pakistan and Afghanistan, first for the Associated Press and later as a reporter for ABC News. [6] Peters was nominated for an Emmy for her coverage of the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto [7] and won the SAJA Journalism Award for a Nightline segment on Pervez Musharraf.

In her work as investigative journalist Peters has conducted extensive research on the intersection between transnational organized crime and national security, from drugs and money laundering to wildlife and timber trafficking. Following the publication of her book, she advised U.S. military and diplomats in Afghanistan. [8]

Peters was previously Senior Fellow on Transnational Crime at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, School of Public Policy. [9] She also co-chaired an OECD Task Force working to improve policy approaches to fight the trafficking of wildlife and other environmentally sensitive goods. Peters serves on the Board of Advisors of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. [10]

Convergence

Wildlife, drugs, and US national security

In 2015, Peters traveled to Africa with The Satao Project to study ivory supply chains in Tanzania and Kenya. Her work zeroed in on “a regional ecosystem moving ivory, drugs and guns … a matrix of different organisations that collaborate to move illegal goods along the Swahili coast.” [11] She quickly identified the underlying problem: corruption. “If there’s a network that is moving illegal goods from one country to another, there are inevitably government officials involved, protecting them or looking the other way,” she said. [12] Since then Peters has continued focus on the intersection of wildlife, narcotics, and U.S. national security interests, being cited in multiple articles, briefs, and documentaries.

Terrorism and drug trafficking

In 2009 Peters published Seeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War. [13] In the book, Peters argues there is a deepening relationship between the Taliban and drug traffickers. [14] "They start to look more like Tony Soprano and his guys than holy warriors," Peters said in an interview with CBS News. "They behave like criminals. They're involved in the drugs trade, human trafficking, kidnapping, gun running…all sorts of criminal activity." [15] Peters spent five years researching the book, interviewing insurgents, drug kingpins, government officials, and poppy farmers. She discussed the book in a June 2009 appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart . [16]

In 2010 Peters published a paper about the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based militant group, with West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and in 2012, Peters testified before the U.S. Congress about the Haqqani network. [17]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

Bashir Noorzai is a convicted former Afghan drug lord. He was an early supporter of the Taliban movement and later worked as an undercover agent on behalf of the U.S. government. Despite being among America's most wanted drug traffickers, he agreed to come to New York City for a debriefing after being promised by his handlers that he would not be arrested. He was arrested ten days after his arrival. In the aftermath of the take over of the country by the Taliban, the group demanded that the US release him in exchange with an American engineer, Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped by the group in January 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade</span> Global black market

The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.

Narcoterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. As with most definitions of terrorism, it typically only refers to non-state actors.

Operation Headstrong involved the training of Afghan commandos in a grouping called the Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF) by British special forces, including the Special Air Service, to seek out and destroy drug laboratories and to confiscate drug shipments. Britain later provided four helicopters for the ASNF's use. British assistance to the ASNF amounted to £6.23 million in 2005–6, £9.4 million in 2006–7, and £32.5 million in 2007–8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime</span> Intergovernmental organization

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna, adopting the current name in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime</span>

The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime is a 2000 United Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime.

The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Located at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Asia, this space covers the mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, extending into eastern Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)</span> Opium-producing region in Southeast Asia

The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green, a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction, with the House of Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, and a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium production in Afghanistan</span> Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transnational organized crime</span> Organized crime across national borders

Transnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime coordinated across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. In order to achieve their goals, these criminal groups use systematic violence and corruption. Common transnational organized crimes include conveying drugs, conveying arms, trafficking for sex, toxic waste disposal, materials theft and poaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirajuddin Haqqani</span> Afghan Taliban warlord (born 1979)

Sirajuddin Haqqani is an Afghan warlord and Specially Designated Global Terrorist who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister in the internationally unrecognized post-2021 Taliban regime. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban since 2015, and was additionally appointed to his ministerial role after the Taliban's victory over Western-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. He has led the Haqqani network, a semi-autonomous paramilitary arm of the Taliban, since inheriting it from his father in 2018, and has primarily had military responsibilities within the Taliban.

This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency related to transnational crime, including the illicit drug trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Afghanistan</span>

Crime in Afghanistan is present in various forms, and includes the following: corruption, contract killings or assassinations, bombings, kidnapping, drug trafficking, money laundering, black marketeering, and ordinary crimes such as theft and assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in the United Arab Emirates</span>

The crime rate in the United Arab Emirates is relatively low compared to more highly industrialized nations. Incidents of petty crime such as pickpocketing are low. The United States Department of State states: "Crime generally is not a problem for travelers in the UAE. However, the U.S. Embassy advises U.S. citizens to take normal precautions against theft, such as not leaving a wallet, purse, or credit card unattended. Although vehicle break-ins in the UAE are rare, U.S. citizens are encouraged to ensure that unattended vehicles are locked and that valuables are not left out in plain sight".

Afghanistan is one of the source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Trafficking within Afghanistan is more prevalent than transnational trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. In 2005 the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported 150 child trafficking cases to other states. Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country and into Iran, Pakistan and India as well as Persian gulf Arab states, where they live as slaves and are forced to prostitution and forced labor in brick kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service. In some cases the boys and girls were used for organ trafficking. Forced begging is a growing problem in Afghanistan; Mafia groups organize professional begging rings. Afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and Iran. Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution, arranged and forced marriages—including those in which husbands force their wives into prostitution—and involuntary domestic servitude in Pakistan and Iran, and possibly India. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report that over the past year, increasing numbers of boys were trafficked internally. Some families knowingly sell their children for forced prostitution, including for bacha bazi - a practice combining sexual slavery and child prostitution, through which wealthy men use harems of young boys for social and sexual entertainment. Other families send their children with brokers to gain employment. Many of these children end up in forced labor, particularly in Pakistani carpet factories. NGOs indicate that families sometimes make cost-benefit analyses regarding how much debt they can incur based on their tradable family members.

Haji Bagcho Sherzai, also known as Haji Bagh Chagul or Haji Bagcho, is a convicted drug trafficker from Afghanistan. He is accused by the United States of having ties with the Taliban. He was convicted on March 13, 2012, by a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of conspiracy, distribution of heroin for importation into the United States and narco-terrorism.

The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the Organization of American States is a part of the General Secretariat, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security has a mandate to promote cooperation between Organization's Member States, Inter-American and international organizations, as well as with entities such as the United Nations and its subsidiaries, in order to analyze, prevent, confront and respond to security threats.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug trade in West Africa rapidly expanded amid dramatic increases in US and European demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs. This resulted in the expansion of two distinct trade routes, both of which went through West Africa. One route exported domestically produced cannabis from West Africa to South Africa, Europe, and Asia. The other trade route moved cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Afghanistan and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. In both of these routes, drug traffickers took advantage of trading networks created by Malian and Berber traders in colonial times to move drugs through the region, as well as West Africa's broader geographical location as an intermediate stop from Latin America and Southwest Asia to Europe and the United States. This was due in part to West Africa's badly policed borders, endemic corruption, and economic inequalities.

East African drug trade refers to the sale and trafficking of illegal drugs that take place in East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The most prevalent types of drugs traded in East Africa are heroin, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and khat, all of which are strictly prohibited in East African countries.

Illicit trade is the production or distribution of a good or service that is considered illegal by a legislature. It includes trade that is strictly illegal in different jurisdictions, as well as trade that is illegal in some jurisdictions but legal in others.

References

  1. ↑ "What to do?". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  2. ↑ Ghosh, Bobby (2009-07-17). "Fighting the New Narcoterrorism Syndicates". Time. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  3. ↑ "Gretchen Peters". UK. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. ↑ Denver, University of. "Sié Fellows Alumni | University of Denver". www.du.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. ↑ Soksreinith, Ten. "Cambodia Daily Alumni Hope Cambodians Continue Free Press Tradition". VOA. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  6. ↑ "Heroin, The Taliban And The 'Seeds Of Terror'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  7. ↑ "NOMINEES FOR THE 29th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES | The Emmy Awards - The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". emmyonline.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  8. ↑ "What to do?". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  9. ↑ "Protecting Rhinos by Targeting Poachers | George Mason". www2.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  10. ↑ "Chair's update: Task Force on Charting Illicit Trade" (PDF). www.OECD.org. November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  11. ↑ McConnell, Tristan (2017-08-19). "'They're like the mafia': the super gangs behind Africa's poaching crisis". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  12. ↑ Howell, Roy. "Analyzing the Links between Transnational Organized Crime & Ivory Trafficking". www.internationalconservation.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  13. ↑ Swain, The Sunday Times review by Jon (2009-09-27). "Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda by Gretchen Peters". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  14. ↑ "Gretchen Peters". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  15. ↑ "Taliban: Holy Warriors Or "The Sopranos"?" . Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  16. ↑ "Gretchen Peters - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". Comedy Central. 9 June 2009. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  17. ↑ "Crime and Insurgency – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  18. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (September 2017). "The Curse of the Shiny Object, How Humans Fight Problems Where They Are Visible, and Why We Need to See Beyond" (PDF). Prism. 7 (1): 75. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  19. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (July 2012). "Haqqani Network Financing:The Evolution of an Industry" (PDF). Harmony Project: 77. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. ↑ Peters, Gretchen; Juan, Zarate. "How financial power can be used to save iconic species from extinction". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  21. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (October 15, 2010). "Crime and Insurgency" (PDF). Harmony Project: 107. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  22. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (July 1, 2009). "Incorporating Law Enforcement Interrogation Techniques on the Battlefield" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 2 (4). Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  23. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (2016). Traffickers and Truckers: Illicit Afghan and Pakistani Power Structures with a Shadowy but Influential Role (PDF). Fort Lesley J. McNair: Center for Complex Operations. p. 125. ISBN   978-0-9861865-7-8 . Retrieved 9 April 2018.
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